Tony Zhou’s Every Frame a Painting is a video series dedicated to the ‘analysis of film form’. His episode on Nicolas Winding Refn’s use of the quadrant system in Drive was the first video that drew me in. Each episode does a great job breaking down and explaining the little details that are sometimes overlooked. It reminds me of the first time I discovered the hidden arrow and spoon within the FedEx logo. When you finally realize it’s there, you appreciate the art behind what we see in front of us that much more.
Other videos that grabbed my attention were David Fincher’s “not what I do, but what I don’t do” approach to filmmaking and the different ways text messaging and the internet are represented on screen.
But it was an episode on Japanese film director and animator Satoshi Kon that got me really stoked. This was my first introduction to the world of Kon and his signature editing style. Inspired by George Roy’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Kon’s use of matching scene transitions has also inspired other filmmakers and their films – Inception and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are two examples that immediately come to mind.
Before passing in 2010, Kon left us with one last gem – Ohayo. His final piece covers something we deal with every day; the dreaded morning wake up routine – illustrated in the most beautiful of ways.
Matt Pyke at Universal Everything has done some incredible work over the years. Every time they release something new I’ll watch it at least 10 times trying to figure out what’s going on. In my opinion, some of the most creative, colorful and technically complex visuals have come out of this studio. Interestingly, The Creators Project has done a short documentary on Matt, giving us a glimpse into his studio and way of thinking about his work. If you’ve got the time, it’s a great watch and if you’ve got a little more time head over to the Universal Everything site and Vimeo to check out the work.
Mr. Div is Tumblr I find myself (and apparently 30,000 other followers) visiting quite often, due to the amazing world of Animated GIF’s and Motion Graphics that inhabit within, designed by Matthew DiVito.
I intend to one day hire this man for my show visuals. Above are a few of my personal favorites.
I’ve been a fan of Ash Bolland‘s work at Umeric for a while now, but I only realized tonight that these scattered pieces I had kept coming back to over the years were all his. There’s something about the live action mixed with 3D that’s other worldy and strange that I absolutely love. Some of these organic models make no sense, but they’re beautifully designed and rendered and also amazing to watch interact with the environment. The four above sort of detail his latest work first, middle work second and third and oldest work last. Really love the sound design in the fourth piece.
Head over to his site to check out the rest of his work or Umeric’s Vimeo, it’ll be worth the half hour.
In September 2010, Sculpture, an audiovisual performance duo from London comprised by electronic music producer, Dan Hayhurst, and animator, Reuben Sutherland, presented us with a flattened zoetrope on the surface of a vinyl record by the name of Rotary Signal Emitter (Dekoder Release 046).
The Victorian zoetrope, invented in 1834, was a three-dimensional object that consisted of a spinning cylinder with vertical slits through which still images appeared to move.
Sculpture’s animation requires the use of a video camera to convey its magic, but as can be seen from their videos the effort is well worth it. Just the knowledge of the latent potential contained within the vinyl surface serves to enhance the experience of the music and the spinning disc, even to the naked eye, is a hypnotic spectacle.
Sculpture’s music, is a mixture of psychedelia, hauntology and turntablism, is a perfect match for their striking visuals. Other films by the duo can be viewed on Tapebox (they’re very much worth your time).
Keir Dullea encounters a mysterious object, in a scenario reminiscent of the penultimate scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that he appeared in over forty years ago.
For the 2001 : A Space Odessey fans that we probably all are, the faux trailer or commercial, Immersive Cocoon. This piece has been out for a while, but I recently came across the Making Of video. It really gives great perspective on not only how this was made, but the large amount of CG work that was done in the piece. Have a watch of Immersive Cocoon above, then the Making Of below.
Might be a little late to the internets on this one but I just ran across “Light” from David Parker at Sunday / Paper tonight. Such great imagery and haunting tone in this piece it feels like it’s pulled from a dream. I’ve always been drawn to subtle surreal 3D work, I really love how this is put together. The scenes and sound design work great for a late Sunday evening watch. You’ve got to check out the framing detail here, so watch it full screen and turn the scaling off. Check out more of the work and collaborative efforts of David Parker and Cole Schreiber over at Sunday / Paper.
Edit : I just watched it for the 5th time, it get’s better and better.
Edit Edit : If you like Zombies and amazing photography, watch their most recent film “Rest“.
